NHS colleagues across Scotland celebrate Climate Week 2024

NHS colleagues across Scotland celebrate Climate Week 2024

As the year draws to a close, we reflect back on one of the key dates in the sustainability calendar – Scotland’s Climate Week, which ran from 23 to 29 September.  

Climate Week is an opportunity to celebrate and encourage climate action, and learn more about what we can all do to help.  

From recycling to active travel, from energy use to our supply chain, from prescribing to our greenspaces – there are many ways we can play our part and make a change. Across NHSScotland we are over 180,000 strong – so what we do can make a real difference. 

As we shine a spotlight on some of the work happening across Scotland to make our NHS more sustainable – and the people behind this work – it’s clear to see the momentum around climate action. Professor Sir Gregor Smith, Chief Medical Officer for Scotland also shared a message of thanks, celebrating staff up and down the country.  

NHS Ayrshire & Arran 

Our NHS Ayrshire & Arran colleagues showcased how they’ve been making changes across a variety of areas, which benefit the environment as well as being good for patients, employees, the local community and the public purse. These are part of their community wealth building approach and include: 

  • how they heat their buildings 
  • transitioning to an electric fleet 
  • tackling waste reduction 
  • promoting biodiversity and their green spaces   

NHS Dumfries & Galloway 

Our NHS Dumfries & Galloway colleagues shared a range of content to celebrate their sustainability efforts and inspire staff, patients and communities alike to take action, including: 

  • a look at waste segregation efforts – the work that’s going into encouraging staff to sort their waste correctly to cut emissions and save money, and the hard work involved in ensuring recycling non-clinical waste is effective – from producing biomass fuel and composting to recovering plastic for reuse 
  • an interview with Dean McLean, Energy and Sustainability Manager, on the importance of decarbonising energy and reducing our energy use 

NHS Fife 

Our NHS Fife colleagues shone a spotlight on the work of their sustainability team, and how their efforts are helping make NHS Fife greener – and supporting staff across their organisation to get involved.  

Sustainability officers Kathryn Hastie and Yasmine Morgan talked about the importance of fostering a culture of environmental awareness, as well as looking at some of the projects underway in NHS Fife, including: 

  • developing greenspace and using it to its full potential to promote health and wellbeing 
  • encouraging colleagues to embrace active travel and adopt more sustainable commuting options 
  • supporting staff to make operating theatres more sustainable and reduce their carbon footprint 
  • focusing on adaptation – how we can protect our assets from extreme weather and other effects of climate change 
  • creating a network of sustainability ambassadors across NHS Fife to raise awareness and support sustainability action across services 

Yasmine has also won a Rising Star Award at the NHS Fife Staff Awards for her work in sustainability – congratulations Yasmine! 

NHS Grampian 

Our NHS Grampian colleagues shared stories from their board showing sustainability action across several areas, including: 

  • continuing to share the work of their Sustainability Champions who continue to lead a variety of projects and activities to inspire and engage colleagues across Grampian 

NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde 

Our NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde colleagues highlighted various initiatives which are a win-win for patients, staff, the local community and the environment, including: 

NHS Highland 

Our NHS Highland colleagues celebrated Climate Week by sharing the news that the organisation has signed up to the Highland Charter for Climate, Nature and Health.  

They also took the opportunity to share examples of the board range of actions they’re taking reduce their impact on the environment, and to ensure all our services deliver health and wellbeing outcomes for people and the planet, including: 

  • introducing biomass boilers, solar panels, air source and ground source heat pumps, and battery storage 
  • running a range of initiatives to increase active travel 
  • work on developing plans to support biodiversity and enhance the wellbeing opportunities of the natural spaces on their sites 

NHS Lanarkshire 

Our NHS Lanarkshire colleagues celebrated Climate Week by sharing how they’ve been making changes to embed sustainability into all that they do, including:  

  • continuing to roll out eHealth technology to reduce travel and increase collaboration 
  • reducing greenhouse gas emissions from anaesthetics and inhalers 
  • introducing green theatres 
  • converting more of their fleet to electric vehicles 
  • finding new ways to improve their water and energy efficiency 

They also heard from Martin Hill, Chair of NHS Lanarkshire on what their board is doing and what we can do as individuals. Following on from Climate Week, they also ran a series of lunchtime webinars with Home Energy Scotland to learn more about saving energy and water at home, and learning more about renewables. 

NHS Lothian 

Our NHS Lothian colleagues shared some of their latest milestones and updates as they work to improve sustainability and tackle climate change, including: 

  • their efforts to reduce carbon emissions from anaesthetic gases, which has led to a reduction of over 25% (2,012 tonnes of CO2) since 2018/2019 

NHS Orkney 

Our NHS Orkney colleagues celebrated Climate Week with by organising a variety of activities to engage with staff, patients and community alike on all things sustainability, including:  

  • a week-long awareness event in their main hub/reception area at The Balfour Hospital where they had a table with information on how people could take action to tackle climate change, along with reusable cups and tubs, plants, seeds, seasonal sustainable recipe books, and competitions 
  • the event also had information stands from Unison, the Islands Centre for Net Zero and Warm Works 
  • daily content on their social media channels talking about a range of topics including waste awareness, active travel and greenspace and biodiversity 
  • screensavers on all their computers with a different theme each day 

NHS Shetland 

Our NHS Shetland colleagues shared a range of content focusing on how they’re making sustainable changes and encouraging people to find out more about how they can help, talking about: 

  • the health and environmental benefits of enjoying the beautiful and wild Shetland landscape, whether by walking or wheeling instead of using a car (and mentioning the NHS Shetland pool of e-bikes) 
  • beginner cycling sessions run by Healthy Shetland and Cycling UK to support more women and girls into cycling, with a guided ride on 4 October 

NHS Tayside 

Our NHS Tayside colleagues highlighted the wide range of work taking place across their board to reduce their carbon footprint and achieve their sustainability goals, including: 

  • Community Benefit Gateway (CBG) support across Tayside – NHS suppliers Hewlett Packard (HP) and Ricoh sent plants, tools and staff volunteers to help in Ninewells Community Garden, benefitting staff and patients. The oncology courtyard at Ninewells Hospital and patio space outside the Dundee Dental Hospital also benefited from CBG support.
  • reducing emissions by decommissioning nitrous oxide (N2O) cylinders – clinical teams have been working with medical physics, pharmacy and estates colleagues to decommissioning Nitrous Oxide (N2O) cylinders across all acute hospital settings and shutting down pipelines to prevent gas wastage.
  • a focus on waste – as well as encouraging staff to correctly sort their waste and recycle, they’ve also replaced plastic milk cartons with ecobags, which will save NHS Tayside £2600 per year and will reduce waste by 87% compared to the plastic milk containers.
  • promoting more sustainable inhalers – primary care teams at Westgate Medical Practice and Douglas Medical Centre in Dundee have been supporting patients to switch to more environmentally sustainability inhalers, reducing NHS Tayside’s carbon footprint and saving money.
  • funding to decarbonise primary care sites – work to decarbonise primary care sites in Arbroath, Auchterarder and Dundee will benefit from Scottish Government’s Green Public Sector Estate Decarbonisation Scheme (GPSEDS) funding, allowing NHS Tayside to add solar panels, increase insulation and other decarbonisation and energy efficiency plans. 
  • digital leaflets – digital patient leaflets were encouraged to help reduce paper usage, save money and reduce carbon footprint. A survey found over 50% of patients surveyed preferred paper-free. Dundee Dental Hospital found a reduction of 77% in printed leaflets by offering QR codes to a digital patient leaflet instead.

NHS Western Isles 

Our NHS Western Isles colleagues marked Climate Week by being part of a community event called ‘OH-COP1’, an Outer Hebrides climate conference set up to focus on the impacts of climate change, pollution and biodiversity loss facing their islands.  The conference was promoted to NHS Western Isles staff and the local community, and featured speakers from a range of key organisations and experts including: 

  • NHS Western Isles 
  • University of the Highlands and Islands 
  • NatureScot 
  • Scottish Youth Parliament 
  • Islands Centre for Net Zero 
  • Met Office  

NHS Golden Jubilee 

Our NHS Golden Jubilee colleagues welcomed Health Secretary Neil Gray MSP during Climate Week, to learn about the pioneering work on the National Green Theatres Programme, and other green initiatives within NHS Golden Jubilee (including the Golden Jubilee University National Hospital). 

Colleagues spoke about initiatives including:  

  • NGTP collaboration with NHSScotland Assure and Scottish Government colleagues to set up trials of reusable gowns 
  • NGTP publishing 10 ‘actions for implementation’ which boards can take – these will save 12,900 tonnes of CO2, with a projected green dividend financial saving of £2.5 million 
  • staff at the Golden Jubilee testing reusable theatre caps 
  • orthopaedic surgeons reducing the carbon costs associated with robotic-assisted total knee replacement surgery by 0.39kg per case during a 5-month trial 
  • work to transition to renewable heat sources for all buildings by 2038 

The Centre for Sustainable Delivery also highlighted innovation within boards as part of their Climate Week activity, sharing how a change to reusable hovermats in NHS Highland is improving efficiency in theatre settings and caught up with Deputy National Clinical Director, Dr John Harden to hear more about the work taking place on sustainable care.  

Healthcare Improvement Scotland 

Our Healthcare Improvement Scotland colleagues highlighted their work on the thirteenth Citizens’ Panel for health and social care which was released earlier this year. 

The Citizens’ Panel report demonstrated how much the people of Scotland care about the environmental impact of healthcare, with findings including: 

  • eight out of 10 people in Scotland want the NHS to take responsibility for reducing its impact on climate change and the environment 
  • nine out of 10 surveyed said they would support returning unused medicines and empty asthma inhalers so they could be recycled or disposed of responsibly  

NHS 24 

Our NHS 24 colleagues shared some of their milestones in reducing their carbon footprint across a number of different areas, including: 

  • 65% reduction in train travel mileage 
  • 24% reduction in car mileage 
  • saving £50k by switching to LED lighting in their South Queensferry contact centre 
  • using renewable energy in their Clydebank contact centre  
  • developing their Active Travel Policy for staff, based on findings from their active travel survey 

NHS Education for Scotland (NES) 

Our NES colleagues celebrated Climate Week with staff-focused activities, information and personal stories focusing on different aspects of sustainability, including: 

  • clinical – David Felix (Postgraduate Dental Dean and Director of Dentistry and Chair of the NES Climate Emergency and Sustainability Clinical and Care Subgroup) provided an insight into the subgroup’s ambitions  
  • social care – Angella Fulton (Associate Director of Social Care) shared insights into ‘sustainability so far’ within their directorate – and their plans for the future 
  • sustainable transport and active travel – as well as running a NES-wide lunchtime webinar to share tips and answer questions, they also heard from keen cyclist Joyce Quinn (Senior Administrator, CPD Connect) and Mark Johnston (Specialist Lead Organisational Development, Leadership and Learning), who has made the switch to an electric vehicle  
  • digital – David Wilson (Associate Director NES Technology Service) shared what the NES Technology Service (NTS) is doing to help reduce NES’ digital carbon footprint – and NTS Technician Gary Johnstone talked about their recycling of IT equipment 
  • personal stories – they also heard from Diane Roe (Analyst Manager) who has installed solar panels to help power her home, and Erica Campbell Walker (Senior Specialist Lead Optometry) who shared her experience of building an eco home  

NHS National Services Scotland (NSS) 

Our NSS colleagues shared their stories of how they’re collaborating to tackle climate change, including: 

  • their work on biodiversity, including NHSScotland Assure colleagues publishing the Grassland Management Report to help boards improve their biodiversity, and installing bug hotels, bat boxes and planters in NSS locations 
  • an interview with Peter Beukes, Category Manager – Heat Purchase Agreement / Power Purchase Agreement (HPA / PPA) on the work he and his team do to secure sustainable energy solutions for NHSScotland 

Public Health Scotland (PHS) 

Our PHS colleagues marked Climate Week with a range of activities to promote climate action, including an interview with Georgie Stuart, Senior Project Officer, talking about the importance of active travel for the climate and health. 

They also shared reflections from Chief Officer Manira Ahmad who looks at the year that’s passed since PHS launched their Climate and Sustainability Strategic Approach, and talks about a range of initiatives which include: 

  • creating a sustainability staff network  
  • publishing the health impact assessment of the Scottish National Adaptation Plan 3 (SNAP 3) 

The State Hospital 

Having already achieved the 2030 target of a 75% reduction in emissions, our State Hospital colleagues celebrated their sustainability achievements during Climate Week through local activities for staff, and a social media campaign.

Non-Executive Director and Board sustainability lead Catherine Fallon engaged staff through visits to wards and departments, highlighting ongoing progress, and sharing practical ways to support a sustainable environment. A range of sustainability promotional items were used to support staff engagement and raise awareness.  

They also shared how they’re committed to reducing their carbon footprint and driving meaningful change for a sustainable future through initiatives including: 

  • reducing energy consumption, transitioning to low-carbon heating fuels like biomass and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), and benefiting from the decarbonisation of grid electricity 
  • installing electric vehicle (EV) charging points, which have saved 10.7 tonnes of CO2 emissions and supported 55,627 EV miles 
  • upgrading to LED lighting across the car park and grounds to improve energy efficiency 

NHSScotland Sustainability Action Programme 

As well as sharing ‘stories for change’ from boards across the country highlighting sustainability efforts locally during Climate Week, we also spoke to colleagues who are working on sustainability at a national level, including: 

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